July 2022 Pervert groomed schoolgirls online for sexual exploitation A 27-year-old man who groomed schoolgirls online for sexual exploitation has been sentenced to three years behind bars. Alex Gregory was arrested in January 2020 after a 14-year-old girl, who cannot be named for legal reasons, disclosed that Gregory had sexually assaulted her. The investigation revealed that Gregory had been approaching girls on social media where he would befriend them, before offering them lifts and giving them cigarettes. Gregory’s behaviour was predatory and exploitative – he clearly knew that the girls he was targeting were underage. Gregory, formerly of Lamb Road, Sheffield, appeared at Sheffield Crown Court where he was sentenced to three years in prison and a Sexual Harm Prevention Order (SHPO). He pleaded guilty to sexual activity with a child under 16 at an earlier hearing.